The immediate sense one gets upon entering the office of new Greens (WA) Senator Christabel Chamarette is one of ease. There's a comfortable atmosphere that comes from people working well and confidently together. Christabel
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Woodchippers demand more rainforest MADANG — The only clearfell woodchip operation of tropical rainforest in the world, here in Madang province, is set to expand according to Glen Barry. Barry is the landowner awareness officer of the Wau
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Marilyn French's well-loved novel The Women's Room was a physically big book, its chunky paperback format inclined to fan out badly after it had been passed around a few times. Its physical bulk was matched by its impact:
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Plant a seed on June 5 Hundreds of primary and high school students around the country will hit the shopping malls and footpaths on World Environment Day, selling bundles of river red gum seeds. Greenpeace initiated the June 5 project as a
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Next issue 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly is taking a one-week holiday. (If Paul Keating gets his way and Australia becomes a republic, will we get the president's birthday off?) Our next issue will be the one dated June 17.
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The Chapman review of Austudy, released on May 15, presents the federal government with a range of options to reform student financial assistance. Unfortunately, most of the options and the bulk of the report are concerned more
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Correction In our April 29 issue, there appeared a letter, apparently signed by seven people, concerning 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳'s coverage of the anti-AIDEX protests. Among the seven were Vandy Meyer, Barbara Meyer and Dorothy Meyer of Canberra. We have
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No scalps at ICAC It seems that no serious charges will be laid against senior police or prison officers after the Independent Commission Against Corruption's prisoner informers inquiry. There will be no major "scalps", and
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ADELAIDE — "Your vote will determine the future and viability of the company ... don't be selfish!" It's the assembly plant manager introducing workers to enterprise bargaining. Such views are to be expected from the
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Paper minister After four years or so as the Minister for the NSW Environment, Mr Tim Moore says of Fitzroy Falls, "It's a very spectacular location. It's very different from seeing drawings on paper." (Sydney Morning Herald, 14/5/92) Well,
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No means no Sex without consent is rape. By definition, a woman can never "ask" to be raped. But logic is blocked out of prejudiced minds, even the supposedly best educated ones. On May 4, the NSW Victims' Compensation Tribunal rejected a
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A memo by the World Bank's chief economist recommending that polluting industries be concentrated in the Third World highlights the "economic logic" that selectively targets poor people and their countries for environmental devastation. The
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Dr David Suzuki, renowned Canadian conservation campaigner, has warned Papua New Guinea about the activities of multinational timber companies while on a visit to inspect both pristine and logged tropical rainforest areas in that
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On the back of Susan Faludi's book is a 90-year-old quote from Rebecca West, acknowledging some of the problems in defining feminism. Said West: "I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that
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ADELAIDE — Close to 500 people marched from Parliament House to Victoria Square on May 27 to mark the 25th anniversary of the vote for Aboriginal "citizenship" in Australia. Union speaker John Hartley summed up the feeling of the day when he
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A solitary foot soldier in the war against women's rights reached the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald recently: a snippet in "Column Eight" revealed that a man stood up to offer his seat to a woman in a crowded
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The magazine format is increasingly popular on television. Each program is a series of grab segments. You can catch up with the latest on quasars or the use of chook poo on a garden border. So why not one on sex? Ten points for
News
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Students take to the streetsMELBOURNE — Around 750 students participated in the second National Day of Action on May 27, organised by the National Union of Students in response to the continuing attacks on education
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Launch of new paper An addition to the alternative media is due to appear this week with the first issue of a new paper, Broadside Weekly. Described as "an independent, broadly based left and progressive weekly", Broadside will be formally
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SYDNEY — More than 100 women and men demonstrated outside the offices of Kerry Packer's Australian Consolidated Press in Park Street on May 26 to protest against the sexist portrayal of women in the media. The rally was
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SYDNEY — Amid a poisonous hail of racial slurs, union-bashing, unsubstantiated allegations and red-baiting, the Royal Commission Into Productivity in the Building Industry in NSW issued its final report on May 26. The
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International speakers at July conferenceA range of international guest speakers will be a feature of the 21st national conference of Resistance, to be held in Melbourne July 4-6. Speaking from the Indonesian National Youth
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WA meatworkers locked outPERTH — Workers at Preston River abattoir at Dardanup in south-west WA have been locked out in a dispute over unfair contracts. The lockout followed the union's (AMIEU) decision
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SYDNEY — The federal Liberal Party's health policy is "at best a throwback to the private health insurance system of the '60s", says Dr Con Costa, vice-president of the Doctor's Reform Society. In this, John Hewson is
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Law of the market "Observance of the law plays little role in the industry. The law of the jungle prevails." — Roger Gyles, QC, in his $25 million report on the NSW building industry royal commission. Law and the market "We are frankly
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Indonesian activist tours BrisbaneBRISBANE — Indonesian human rights activists Helmi Fauzi completed his tour of Brisbane at meeting of 50 at the University of Queensland. The meeting, one of seven, was organised by the
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NSW teachers in 24-hour strikeSYDNEY — NSW school teachers voted overwhelmingly at meetings around the state on May 28 to strike for 24 hours on June 3. A mass meeting will be held at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion on that day.
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BURNIE — At the end of an eventful week, the Liberal Tasmanian government and the Labor federal government indicated they were losing patience with Associated Pulp and Paper over its failure to resolve the dispute at its mill
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The federal Industrial Relations Commission last week delivered its ruling on the ACTU-employer requested streamlining of union coverage at universities and tertiary colleges. Unions representing workers in the area will be reduced from 40 to
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SYDNEY — "The Australian government's attempts to eject 37 Cambodian boat people applying for refugee status is racist, heartless and uncaring", says Rosanna Barbero, a member of the Action Committee for Refugees in Australia.
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SYDNEY — More than 230 people attended 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳'s "Big Night Out" on May 23. Entertainment was provided by Liberty Street (pictured) and Bicycle Thieves. Film maker Gil Scrine took up the issue of censorship and alternative media, and touring
Analysis
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When women have demanded change, there has always been a backlash. Two thousand years ago angry women stormed the Roman Forum demanding equal rights, and the counter- assault from law-makers was swift — the troublesome sex
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Democracy and trade unions Around the country, trade union rights are under attack. The APPM dispute in Burnie and the Greiner government's union-bashing in NSW are only the more prominent examples of a widespread offensive against the
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In July 1 the Keating government hopes to have in place a law to make superannuation obligatory for all workers. Employers will have to set aside for superannuation each year a minimum of 3-5% of wages or pay the equivalent as a levy to the
World
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Amos Wollin, an Israeli citizen since 1939 and a foreign correspondent for Danish and German newspapers, talked to Green Left about the June 23 Israeli elections. He pointed out, however, that although his name is
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Timorese jailed in Dili and JakartaWhile Indonesian authorities have yet to charge any military officer or soldier for their role in the massacre in Dili on November 12, several East Timorese who survived the killings or
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Dutch government lets refugee dieAMSTERDAM — Unlike Germany, France and Belgium, the Netherlands has no racist political parties winning high votes and no fascists marching in the streets. However, problems in Dutch
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Greenpeace closes incinerator AMSTERDAM — Greenpeace activists closed down the largest household waste incinerator in Europe on May 12. They blocked the waste bunker and climbed into the transportation cranes of the AVR plant at Rotterdam.
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Tropical timber protest in Austria STOCKERAU, Austria — Greenpeace activists and about 20 Indians from Central and South America blockaded one of Austria's largest tropical timber importers on May 11. A huge model of a saw prevented trucks
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Plutonium threat to southern AfricaAccording to environmentalists in southern Africa, a tanker carrying deadly plutonium may have travelled from France and England to Japan via the Cape of Good Hope on a "trial run" to test the
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The media weren't happy with the second convention of the German Greens, held in eastern Berlin May 15-17. "Beer and sausage are preferable to sharp discussion", was the comment of one local journalist.
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MOSCOW — Four days after the Sosnovy Bor nuclear power plant near St Petersburg released a cloud of radioactive steam on March 24, Yegor Gaidar, first vice-premier in the Yeltsin government, signed plans for a massive
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Stepped-up repression in West Bank, GazaUnder cover of the Middle East peace conference, Israel's government is increasing repression of Palestinians in the occupied territories and the bombing of south Lebanon. In the
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NEW YORK — The United States on May 21 failed to respond to Cuban accusations that it had been promoting terrorism against the island. The two faced off in a United Nations Security Council meeting, held at Cuba's request. Havana's UN
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PRAGUE — A split in the Czechoslovak republic is more likely after an exchange in early May between Vladimir Meciar, leader of the popular Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), and Czechoslovak President
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Despite their picket lines being raided by armed riot police and strikers being jailed, evicted from their company-owned houses and physically attacked by company thugs, 700 workers at the Vatukoula gold mine in Fiji remain on
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Moves to close US civil rights centreWASHINGTON, D.C. — For the first time since the McCarthy era, the federal government may attempt to seize the property of a civil rights organisation. Officials of other public-interest
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Supporters of democracy in Burma from throughout the world are calling on their governments to eject the illegitimate rulers of Burma from the seat they hold in the United Nations General Assembly. The call marks the second
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Indonesian students charged SEMARANG — Two students are facing serious criminal charges following a meeting critical of the lack of democracy in Indonesian elections. About 30 students, organised in the Semarang Students Forum, held a
Culture
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A Thesaurus of LA Burning em = By Nicole Matthews So you've just purchased your own pushcart? How long did you think you could push down and put upon the put-upon before becoming their quarry? A burning rag in quart bottle is just quid pro quo
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Dancing or dreaming Inma Juju (Dance Music) Coloured Stone BMG Records Available on CD and Cassette Reviewed by Sean Malloy I first saw Coloured Stone at a semi-trendy, close to seedy, underground tavern in Sydney. I was into ska music at
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Labour history in song and yarn A cassette of folk songs and yarns celebrating the shearers' strike of 1891 is one of a series of eight cassettes available from ABC Radio Tapes. A spin-off from the weekly program Songs and stories of
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A World Without Pity (Un Monde sans Pitie) Writer/director Eric Rochard Starring Hippolyte Girarot, Mireille Perrier Reviewed by Pat Brewer "Hippo doesn't believe in God, nor in a bright future, nor in the European Market. He has no dreams,
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Lively new paper from EYAThe latest edition of EYA news is a special Earth Summit edition, with a feature article by the Environmental Youth Alliance delegate to the Costa Rican Youth Summit, part of the lead-up to the UN
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Budgies, Icarus and disintegration Reef Windows By Duncan Richardson 36pp, $5 pb (+ $1 postage) Available from PO Box 274, Corinda, Brisbane 4075 Reviewed by Tracy Sorensen Like his Siberian tigers, Duncan Richardson's poetry prowls
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Hidden Things worth looking for Hidden Things Paul Kelly and the Messengers Mushroom through Festival RecordsAvailable on CD and Cassette Reviewed by Deb Sorensen If you're a Paul Kelly devotee and have most of his albums, you would have
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Zentropa Directed by Lars Von Trier Starring Jean-Marc Barr, Barbara Sukowa, Udo Kier, Ernst-Hugo Jaregard Reviewed by Mario Giorgetti Lars Von Trier's deeply reflective trilogy, begun with Element of Crime in 1984 and followed by Epidemic
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[A Sydney rape victim last week had her application for compensation rejected by the Victims' Compensation Tribunal, which made comments including "applicant encouraged actions" and "she must be responsible for her own actions".]